I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the talent He has bestowed on all of us!
I have been artistic all of my life and love experimenting with different mediums and techniques. This blog is my creative outlet to share my passion for cardmaking and papercrafting!

The steps to create the background are identical to
the original post and since it is all just one watercolored panel layered onto the card base, it is very easy to mail and does not require additional postage :-).

To me this is a Clean and
Simple card, but to others, maybe not so Clean or Simple (watercolor can be fun
but a bit messy) :-)

We had a blast and they
were teasing me since I kept reminding them not to be too perfectionistic with
the ink, “Just let it flow, let it flow!”- lol!!

If you have any questions
on the process, please let me know. Since
many of my cards are created with techniques I have used in previous blog posts, I will
most likely start linking to the previous posts to save time (FYI- sometimes it takes longer for me to create the blog post than the actual cards themselves) :-)

This scene reminds me of the summers that we would spend in rural New York State with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins...there were so many gorgeous older buildings with weathered wood- an artist's dream :-)

The Card Concept is a
bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design
styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean
and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant
and Mixed Media.

Hope you can find some time to gather your
supplies together and come join in on the fun!!

Add a bit of Ranger®
Tim Holtz® Weathered Wood and Shabby Shutters Distress Stain to build up layers
(using a Heat Tool to dry between layers of ink).

Once you have the
background the desired color, randomly apply Judikins MicroGlaze™ to the areas
that you would like to “weather”.

Use a spatula or old
credit card to add Studio 490® Wendi Vecchi® Crackled Texture Paste and
carefully dry with the Heat Tool.

Once dried, use a paper
towel to gently rub some of the crackle paste and background color away (to mimic
the peeling paint). It is a bit difficult to see in the photo but the background definitely has cracks and looks like it has peeled :-)

Once you have
achieved the desired effect, use a foam brush to apply Mod Podge® to seal the
surface.

Adhere ½ of a White
Tea Lace Doily (distressed with Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress
Ink) to the card front on an angle, cover
the doily edge with the Newsprint DSP strip and tuck a few of the daisy petals behind
the strip.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

It’s time for the new SUO125 “Cutting Edge” Challenge (make a
card edge that is not straight) so I decided to create a banner edge to a
nautical themed card.

FYI- The images on the
focal panel are created using masking with ink and markers (so the main panel is all one layer) and of course, the banners are more than one layer and are the "cutting edge" to this card :-)

I hope you will find the time to check out all the rest of our
Design Team ideas at SUO Challenges as well as those at the other two challenge
sites- great inspiration from all!

To create this card:

The angle of my camera lens makes this card look a bit crooked, but trust me, it is not :-)

Ink the lighthouse image
from the new set, From Land to Sea with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a
piece of Whisper White cardstock. Stamp
another image onto a piece of scrap paper to use as a mask.

Mask the lighthouse image
and ink the map image from The Open Sea using Chocolate Chip Classic Ink and
stamp onto the panel (also stamping another map onto a piece of scrap paper to
create a mask).

Keep the mask in place for
the lighthouse image and mask the map image.

Use Smoky Slate Classic
Ink to ink the script stamp from By The Tide, stamp off once before stamping
onto the panel, re-ink the stamp, stamp off and repeat the steps to cover the
background.

Using Island Indigo Classic
Ink to stamp the seahorse and compass images from By The Tide (re-inking and
stamping the seahorse twice).

Using Smoky Slate Classic
Ink, stamp the coral image from By The Tide onto the panel.

Remove the masks, use an
AquaPainter™ with Island Indigo Classic Ink to
color the lighthouse and add
shadows with the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write Marker.

Re-mask the lighthouse and
map, ink the large splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge using Island Indigo,
stamp off onto scrap paper a few times,
huff onto the stamp and add a bit of splatter to the background.

Create the banners using
embossed Whisper White cardstock (embossed with the Woodgrain Textured
Impressions™ Embossing Folder), mounted onto Smoky Slate cardstock and again
onto Chocolate Chip cardstock (I used the Hexagon Punch to create the banner
points since they were of varying widths and shorter lengths).

For the small banners, use
the Banner Punch to punch out banners from Smoky Slate, Island Indigo and
Chocolate Chip cardstock. Layer the
banners in a rectangle shape onto a scrap piece of paper and stamp with the
ledger stamp from The Open Sea using Island Indigo Classic Ink.

Add the banners on the
edge starting with the larger embossed banners first, next layer the smaller
stamped banners on top.

Finish off the edge with a
strip of Island Indigo cardstock layered onto a piece of Chocolate Chip
cardstock.

Create the photo corners
from a scrap piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock- Use the 1” Square Punch to punch out a “notch” from the
scrap piece of cardstock, then re-position the punch from the notch to punch
out the “photo corner,”, create the angle on the edges with your scissors and
there you have it, a photo corner

Use the same steps as above
to create another photo corner from the remaining cardstock for the opposite corner.

Add the photo corners to
the card front and add the Rhinestones to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: By The Tide, From Land to Sea, The Open Sea,
Gorgeous Grunge, Butterfly Basics

For the past 20 years or so, my husband and I have only been able to
take a day off here and there from work, therefore, we have not been able to travel too far from
home so our favorite “Happy” place right now is
Shenandoah National Park :-)

We love the majestic vistas and overlooks and this was the first place I thought of when I saw this challenge :-)

I used masking along with
sponges to create this landscape card but it is very difficult to capture the splendor
and glory of Shenandoah with mere stamps and sponges...this card made me long for Shenandoah- I think we need to visit our “happy” place
again soon!

If you have not had a
chance to do so, I hope you visit the linked sites to check out the marvelous
inspiration by all!

To create this card:

Create a mask for the
mountains using scrap paper and just tearing the edge.

Position the mountain mask
along with a circle for the moon onto Whisper White cardstock and sponge
Coastal Cabana ink along with just a hint of Elegant Eggplant for the sky area.

Remove the masks and
re-mask the sky area and mountain ridge, sponge Elegant Eggplant onto the
cardstock, remove the masks and repeat to create the mountain ridges.

Add Old Olive at the bottom
of the scene.

Ink the tree images from
Lovely As A Tree with Stāz-On® Jet Black ink and stamp onto the sponged
background, mask the hills, re-ink the
stamp and stamp again.

Add a bare tree to the left
using the Faber-Castell® B Black Pitt
Pen marker and add a few birds as well.

This
card was created for the Splitcoaststampers’ Virtual Stamp Night JUN15VSNI “Happy
Together” Challenge (see details here and gallery here) using the CC535 Color
Challenge- Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry with dessert to add a punched or die cut element (see details here and gallery here) as well as the SC540 Sketch
Challenge (see details here and gallery here).

Woohoo!! I
was able to incorporate all of the nine elements for this “recipe” challenge and
pulled out one of my favorite retired stamp sets, Betsy the Beekeeper (just
love this gal with her honey hive and jars :-)).

Again,
if you have not already done so, I hope you will find the time to visit the
above sites to check out the wonderful Design Team samples as well as the galleries!

Adhere a
paper doily to the background (I used a Royal Lace 6” diameter doily from my
stash) and add the DSP on an angle per the sketch.

Add a few
pieces of Rich Razzleberry ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon loops to the side of the focal
image and adhere the Bermuda Bay Sequins (cut from the Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim)
to the side of the card near the ribbon and add the Pink Rhinestones to the
centers of the sequins as well as the
flowers on her dress (the pink rhinestones were from a retired Stampin’
Up! Flower cardstock sticker pack- sorry, I do
not recall the name:-)).

Add the
focal image to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Add the
strip of Rich Razzleberry cardstock with Stampin’ Dimensionals® and adhere the
Rich Razzleberry bow (created with the Bow Builder Punch) along with the
retired Daffodil Delight button.

Use the
retired Word Window Punch to punch out the sentiment, create the banner points
using the Banner Punch and adhere to a strip of Bermuda Bay cardstock (also
creating banner points with the Banner Punch).

Mount the
sentiment to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the
card.

This
Clean and Simple (CAS) card was created for the Splitcoaststampers’ Virtual
Stamp Night JUN15VSNH “Bake Up Some Happiness” Challenge (see details here and gallery here). Now we all know that baking apple pie is definitely not Clean and Simple- lol!!

Again,
if you have not had the chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit
the Splitcoaststampers’ site- tremendous inspiration from all!

To create
this quick and easy card:

Open MDS and position the digital images onto a blank 8.5x 11
document. Open up a square punch element
to crop the image, color fill with Whisper White and print out the
document using black ink.

Use a Faber-Castell® XS Black Pitt Pen to create cross-hatching in
the background to fill-in the void from the digital punch and color the focal
image using Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Pens
and Stampin’ Write markers (the cross-hatching is difficult to see in the photo but it is there:-))

Trim the images and mount onto Real Red cardstock.

Trim a piece of Whisper White cardstock and mount onto a piece of
Real Red cardstock, trim again and mount this background panel onto the Night
of Navy card base.

Adhere the focal image and sentiment to the card front and add the
Real Red punched heart (from the Owl Builder Punch) to finish off the card.

Quick and easy- I am starting to love this one hour time limit :-)

Stamp
Sets: Home Sweet Home (MDS), free Vintage Digi Stamp- A is for Apple Pie

This
was the first shaker card that I ever created and it took the entire hour to
complete (and that was pushing it- lol!).
I love this retired stamp set and thought it would be perfect for a
shaker element :-)

Again,
if you have not visited the challenge sites yet, I hope you will find time to do
so- terrific Design Team designs and as well as their galleries!!

To
create this card:

Stamp
the bee image and sentiment from the retired set, Honey Bear using Stāz-On® Jet
Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock (make sure you position to leave room for
the die cuts).

Cut
the images out with the Big Shot™ along with the MFT Stitched Circle STAX Die
and cut a larger stitched circle from Basic Black for the frame on the bear.

Emboss
a piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock using the Honeycomb Textured Impressions™
Embossing Folder (I still had a bit of Delightful Dijon ink on the interior of my
folder from the last card).

Decide
where you would like the sentiment shaker element to be positioned and punch
out a hole with the 1 ¾” Circle Punch.

Dry-fit
the bear with the frame and use the 1 ¾" Circle Punch to cut out a notch to fit around the treat cup.

Cut
a strip of retired Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper (DSP) and mount onto
Basic Black cardstock (also punching part of a circle to fit around the treat
cup).

Add
the retired In-Color Sequins to the treat cup, adhere the sentiment to the
back, insert the treat cup into the opening and mount the Bermuda Bay layer
onto the Basic Black card base.

Add
the Botanical Gazette DSP layer and adhere the bee circle with the frame to the
card front.

Use
a Sponge Dauber with the Mini Punchenella Stencil to carefully add the
Delightful Dijon Classic Ink through the honeycomb part of the stencil.

Use
the 1 ¾” Circle Punch to punch out a 1 ¾”
Circle from Basic Black cardstock and position the 2” Circle Punch over the
opening (created by the 1 ¾” Circle Punch in the piece of cardstock) and punch
out the 2 “ Circle to create the black ring- adhere to the outside of the treat
cup.

Close-up of the Treat Cup Shaker Element :-)

Mount
a scrap strip of Basic Black cardstock to mimic ribbon and add the triple
ribbon bow (Black Organdy) along with the retired More Mustard button to finish
off the card.

I received my order from
the new catalog this week and could not wait to create something with the new stamp
set, The Wilderness Awaits.

I love all of the realistic wildlife images in this
set and thought it would be perfect for the Splitcoaststampers’ Virtual Stamp
Night JUN15VSNC“You Are My Happy”
Challenge (see details here and gallery here).

In addition to only having one hour to complete your card, this challenge wanted us to let the person that receives this card to know why they are our "happy" :-)

I created this card for my
husband…some of you are aware that he has been undergoing chemo treatments
since November and I am so thankful for his love for the Lord, for me, the 32+ years we have spent together, his attitude of gratitude during this
time of medical issues and the moments we get to share together- all of this is precious to me and he is "my happy" :-)

We both love nature and
watching wildlife and even though we have never had the pleasure of seeing an
elk in the wild, we are hoping one day to travel to some of the more Northern
and Western State Parks and possibly see this majestic animal in their natural
habitat.

I decided to incorporate
the Splitcoaststampers’ CC533 Color Challenge as well (Basic Gray, Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral)- see details here and gallery here .

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope
you visit the linked sites to check out the marvelous inspiration by all!

About Me

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! As an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator I am responsible for the content of this blog. It is not endorsed by Stampin' Up! Unless otherwise noted, all images copyright 2016 Stampin' Up! Also, unless otherwise noted, all of my designs are copyrighted by me and you are free to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) my designs for PERSONAL USE ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT COPY or CASE my designs for any challenge, contest, publication or for re-sale of any type. If you do decide to CASE my designs for personal use and publish that CASE anywhere on the internet, please give credit (link back to my blog) :-)

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In accordance with FTC16CFR, Part 255, I declare that I currently receive or have received products that I promote and endorse for free or at a discount from the following companies: Artistic Outpost, Our Daily Bread Designs and Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps. These companies have generously supplied me with complimentary products for promotional purposes while on their Design Teams. My enthusiasm in promoting their products does not stem from the fact that I am compensated by them, but because I love their products and feel their product lines and services to be superior in this industry.